Apparatus for rolling channel-irons.



- Patented Mar. 4, I902 H. 8. SMITH. v APPARATUS FOR ROLLING CHANNEL IRQNS.

(Appliation med Apr. 18,1901.) (No Model.) 2 Shouts-Sheet i.

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. No. 694,437. I Patented-5L4, I902; u. s. SMITH. I

ANPAB'ATUS FOR ROLLING CHANNEL IRONS.

' A liuiion fllad Apr..18, 190m THE "ohms PETERS 00.. Piaoro-LITHQ. wksumm-cu. n. c

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY S. SMITH, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE VICTOR RUBBER COMPANY, OFSPRINGFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORA- TION OF OHIO.

A PPARATUS FORROLLING CHANNEL-IRONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 694,437, dated March 4, 1902.

Application filed April 18, 1901.

To alt whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatl, HARRY S. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residingat Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Penn sylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Rolling Channel-Irons, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to apparatus for rolling channel-irons, being devised more particularly for the production of such irons for use in connection with elastic tires, said channel-irons forming metallic rims for vehiclewheels, in which rims the elastic tires are seated.

The object of my present invention is to provide an apparatus whereby I am enabled to successfully produce a channel-iron of the character set forth in an applicationfor Letters Patent of the United States, filed July 5, 1900, by John G. Webb, Serial No. 22,487. This particular channel-iron comprises a flat body or base portion and upstanding flanges at each margin thereof which are in the form in cross-section of ellipseshaving their major axes perpendicular to the base of the rim or channel,thereby forming between said flanges and base a groove which is dovetailed or of increasing width at its lower portion and also of increasing width at its upper portion.

The present invention consists in certain novel features which I will now proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of the strand-rolls. Fig. 2 is a similar View of the edging-rolls. Fig. 3 is a similar view of the finishing or bending rolls. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed view illustrating the pass of the edging-rolls, and Fig.5 is a similar view illustrating the pass of the finishing-rolls. r

In the said drawingsl have shown my apparatus as composed of three, sets of rolls. The first set, which-is shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, comprises whatare known as the strand-rolls, the set being a three-high set and comprising a top roll 1, a middle roll 2, and a bottom roll 3. The material to be Serial No. 56,362. (No model.)

operated upon is in the shape of a bar square in cross-section and is first introduced into a pass 4 between the top and middle rolls, by means of which its upper surface is slightly grooved, while at the same time the bar is decreased in height and increased in width, this increase being a gradual one toward the bottom of the bar. The bar is next introduced into a pass 5 between the middle roll and bottom roll, and by means of this pass the groove or channel becomes more distinctly marked, the angles of the junction of the flanges with the body being defined and the inner walls of the flanges partly rounded, while at the same time the under side of the 1 body is reduced in width by rolling down the corners thereof. The bar is next introduced into a pass 6 between the top and middle rolls, in which pass the flanges are still further defined and the base or bottom flattened, while the bar is still further reduced. The

'bar is next introduced into a pass 7 between the middle and lower rolls, and in this pass it is given approximately-its final form. One of the rolls is provided with a cylindrical working surface 8, forming the centralportion thereof, and on each side thereof is provided a tapering and rounded portion 9, curved in part 8 and forms the under side of the body or bottom of the channel, while on each side of thepart 10 there is a rounding or tapered working surface 11, Which'defines the curvature of the outer sides of the flanges. It will be observed that the flanges of the channel diverge outwardly from each other and from the body of the bar after the bar has been formed by its passage through the pass 7, and this arrangement permits the formation of a bar having flanges with rounded outer sides without preventing the bar" from properly clearing the pass. After leaving the strandrolls the bar is next passed through the edging-rolls, which are indicated at 12 and 13 in Fig. 2.

These rolls have a pass 14 between them, each roll being formed with a circumferential groove 15, having on one side a straight or radial wall 16 and on.the other side an inclined wall 17, and the bottom of the groove being curved, as indicated at 18, to conform to the curvature of the outer side of the flange of the channel. The bar after it leaves the pass 7 is turned edgewise or into a position at right angles to the position it assu med while passing through the strand-rolls. In Fig. 2 I have indicated in dotted lines the relative dimensions of the bar to the pass 14 prior to being introduced into the same, and it will be seen that in its passage through the edging-rolls the flanges are bent inward toward each other to a considerable extent. I have found, however, in practice that satisfactory results cannot be obtained by an attempt to employ these edging-rolls for the purpose of bending the flanges into their final position. This arises from several causes. In the first place the edging-rolls do not support the body or flat portion of the bar on each side, and said portion is apt to bend when an attempt is made to roll the flanges inward to their normal position. Moreover, the flanges being in contact with the rolls only on one side of each flange there is no certainty that they will be bentinward to an equalextent. Furthermore, the change in the position of the bar causes the weight of this latter to distort the flanges after they leave the rolls.

For the foregoing reasons I employ the edging-rolls for the purpose of only partially bending the flanges into final position. The bar is then passed to the finishing or bending rolls, which are indicated at 19 and 20. The roll 19 is provided with a groove 21, which is relatively shallow and of a width equal to the width of the underside of the completed channel-bar, the sides of the groove being defined by the slightly-inclined Walls 22. The roll 20 is provided with an annular working portion 23, cylindrical in form, and of a width less than the width of the flat surface of the bar which forms the bottom of the channel. On each side of this central portion 23 is a groove 24, said grooves conforming to the shape of the flanges and the part 23 having straight or flat sides 25, which form the outermost portions of the inner walls of the grooves 24:. The outer walls of the grooves 24 are inclined, as indicated at 26, and the shoulders 27 at the junction of said walls 26 and the surface of the rolls are rounded off or inclined, as shown. It results from this construction that when the bar is introduced into the pass of the finishing-rolls the flanges are bent inward by contact with the inclined shoulders 27 and inclined walls 26 until they assume their final position. The side walls 25 of the central part act as stops to limit the inward bending of the flanges and serve to positively determine their position and assure their being both bent inward to the same extent. The cylindrical surface 23 bears upon the body or bottom portion of the channel-bar and serves to prevent it from being bent by reason of the strain upon the flanges, said body portion being held between the surfaces 21 and 23. It will be observed, however, that the part 23 is of a width less than the width of the bottom of the channel or groove, so that the inwardly-bent flanges may readily clear the pass without shearing. The completed channel-bar thus produced is one having a uniform section throughout, the flanges being identical with each other and similarly positioned with respect to the body or bottom of the bar.

The rolls whereby the bar is given its earlier shapes and is reduced may be of any suitable construction, it being only essential, so far as the strandrolls are concerned, that they shall be so organized as to produce a bar having the section shown in connection with pass 7. Various other features may be modified without departing from the principal of my invention, and I therefore do not Wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details hereinbefore set forth and shown in the drawings.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an apparatus for rolling channel-irons, the combination, with strandrolls having passes whereby the bar is reduced and formed into a channel having flaring flanges with rounded outer and inner walls, of edgingrolls having a pass whereby the flanges of the bar are partly bent in toward each other, and finishing-rolls having a pass provided with cylindrical portions to hold the flat body portion of the channel, and grooves having inclined walls to bend the flanges inward toward each other, and stop-shoulders to limit said inward bending, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus for rolling dovetailed channel-irons, finishing-rolls having a pass formed by a shallow flat-bottomed groove in one roll, a cylindrical portion or collar on the other roll of less width than the width of the bottom of the completed channel, grooves having inclined rounded walls and located on each side of said cylindrical portion, and inclined or rounded shoulders between said grooves and the surface of the roll, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY S. SMITH.

Witnesses:

.1. C. MCDERMITT, W. J. SMITH. 

